


Getting Down in Pelican Town

by WretchedArtifact



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: First Time, Fluff, Getting Together, Insecurity, M/M, Pre-Canon, Smut, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:01:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21831154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WretchedArtifact/pseuds/WretchedArtifact
Summary: When Sam and Sebastian start dating, they discover how difficult it is to get physical while still living at home.
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 358
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Getting Down in Pelican Town

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smallearthcat (vamplover82)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamplover82/gifts).



The first time Sam and Sebastian got physical--two years into their friendship, about two weeks after their first kiss--it was in Sebastian’s bedroom in the basement. For two years, they’d played tabletop games and read comic books and bitched about life down there, and they never had to worry about what would happen if someone walked in on them. If Sebastian’s mom or Demetrius or Maru happened to come down and open the door, the most Sebastian ever felt was irritation at being disturbed. There was nothing scandalous about Sam lying on Sebastian’s bed with his nose stuck in the latest issue of _Cave Saga X_.

But there _was_ something scandalous about the way Sam was lying on Sebastian’s bed now. They hadn’t told anyone they were dating--neither of them wanted to deal with everyone in their lives acting weird about it--but anyone who came down and saw them now would know instantly that their relationship had changed. Sam’s tall, lanky body was currently stretched to fill most of Sebastian’s narrow twin bed: his chest and midsection were bare, and a dusting of blond curls was slowly becoming visible as he undid the button on his jeans. Sebastian, who had been dreaming of a moment like this for basically two years, was suddenly seized with paranoia that someone would come tromping down the basement stairs and throw open the door. “Hold on a sec,” Sebastian said, and grabbed a few pieces of dirty laundry off the floor. He went over and shoved them under the door jamb as a makeshift lock. For years he’d been asking to get a _real_ lock, but his mom and Demetrius always said no. They said it would be a fire hazard.

Sebastian came back over to the bed, where Sam’s fingers had paused on the zipper of his jeans. “So, are you going to join me, or am I putting on a show?” Sam asked.

His tone was jokey but also a little self-conscious, which was fair, because Sebastian felt pretty self-conscious, too. Neither of them had done anything like this before. _Putting on a show_ sounded like something more experienced people did, so Sebastian just crawled into bed alongside Sam. The fit was so tight that Sam had to lie on his side with his back against the wall to make room, and they were so close together that Sebastian couldn’t really see Sam's body anymore. But in a way, that made it easier. Their lips met, and Sam’s hands abandoned his jeans for a moment to pull Sebastian’s shirt off over his head, and then their bare chests were pressed together for the very first time. The shock of their flushed skin touching from sternum to navel set Sebastian’s mind spinning frantically, like a flicked pinwheel. He felt Sam’s hands move between them, heard the rustle of clothes being pushed down, and then against his thigh he felt a hard, weighty heat.

Sebastian had never been the kind of person to get overly excited about anything, so the lurching acceleration of his heartbeat was unfamiliar and kind of alarming as he reached down and wrapped his hand around Sam’s cock. Since he couldn’t see it, he tried to map it out by touch: squeezing his hand around it, pumping the length in his fist. Sam made a choked noise and buried his face in Sebastian’s bare shoulder. Sam’s cock was a little thicker and at least an inch longer than Sebastian’s--the buzz of excitement and desire in Sebastian’s head was suddenly joined by a flicker of insecurity. But he could already feel Sam’s hands worming around between them, fighting with the button of Sebastian’s jeans, and with a couple of rough, seeking pulls he drew Sebastian’s cock out of his fly and gripped it like iron.

Sebastian couldn’t stifle the embarrassing near-squeak he made. His mind spun faster, a frantic whirligig, as pleasure mixed itself into the soup of anticipation and agitation and insecurity that was already sloshing around inside him. Sam’s hand felt good--but it also made Sebastian feel _weird_ , like he was walking across a tightrope and pitching slightly from side to side. Sam was his best friend, one of the only people in the world he felt truly comfortable with, but as their hands fumbled to find a rhythm on each other, squeezing strokes that made them gasp into each other’s mouths, Sebastian felt a swooning sense of vulnerability low in his stomach. Because Sam knew so much about Sebastian, but he didn’t know any of _this_ about him. Sebastian’s face was twisted up and his breathing was audible and each stroke of Sam’s fist wrung this high-pitched little noise out of him that he’d never made before, and what if Sam was turned off by it? What if all Sam was thinking right now was that Sebastian was embarrassing himself, that he clearly didn’t know what he was doing?

Then an unfamiliar noise pierced through the haze of Sebastian’s thoughts. It was a high, muffled klaxon sound, coming from somewhere above their heads. Sam’s mouth paused against Sebastian’s. “What is that?” Sam asked. “Some kind of alarm?”

Footsteps suddenly started thundering down the basement stairs. Before either of them could move, there was a harsh _squeak_ as someone tried to open Sebastian’s door and found it jammed shut. “What the--“ came Demetrius’s voice. “Sebastian! Why is this door blocked?”

Oh, _fuck_. The two of them immediately sprang out of bed and started hurriedly pulling their clothes back on. “Demetrius, I told you to _knock!_ ” Sebastian yelled.

“It’s an emergency!” Demetrius yelled back. He shoved fruitlessly against the door again. “I accidentally mixed together two volatile compounds, and we need to evacuate the house!”

Oh, _shit._ Sam almost tripped as he pulled his pants back on, and Sebastian realized belatedly that he’d put his own shirt on inside-out, but there was no time to fix it. Sebastian kicked the clothes free of the door jamb and opened it, and Demetrius hustled them both upstairs.

Sebastian’s mom had installed a sprinkler system in Demetrius’s lab when she built the house, and it was pelting the first floor with water when they emerged. Demetrius pointed them towards the front door. Sam and Sebastian stumbled out in front of the house, which fortunately didn’t appear to be on fire, and stood there panting as they waited for Demetrius to emerge. Fortunately, Sebastian knew his mom and Maru weren’t home: it was a Tuesday, which meant his mom had aerobics and Maru was working at the clinic. He and Sam had scheduled their date for today for exactly that reason.

After another moment, Demetrius came outside, his clothing damp from the spray of the sprinklers. “All right, nothing’s burning,” he said. “But the combination of chemicals is dangerous to inhale. We’ll have to wait for the house to air out.”

Now that the initial moment of panic had passed, Sebastian looked over at Sam and realized how disheveled both of them looked. Sam’s shirt was on inside-out, too, and his fly was unzipped. Fortunately, the combination of the fire alarm and almost getting caught by Demetrius had been a complete boner-killer for both of them. “Sebastian, that was incredibly dangerous, letting your clothes pile up in front of the door like that,” Demetrius said. “Not only were you risking your own safety, you were risking Sam’s safety, too.”

“My safety wouldn’t have been at risk if _you_ had been more careful,” Sebastian snapped.

Demetrius’s lips went thin, but he didn’t contradict him, because it was true. Sam stepped in between them, so naturally that it didn’t seem like he was purposefully intervening in what could’ve been a bad fight. “How long will it take for the house to air out, sir?” he asked.

“Three or four hours, at minimum,” Demetrius said.

“Why doesn’t Sebastian just stay at my house tonight, then?” Sam asked. “I’ll tell my mom what happened, I’m sure she’ll be fine with him staying over.”

“That would be great,” Demetrius said, sounding relieved.

“I don’t have any of my stuff,” Sebastian said waspishly.

“Dude, you can borrow some of my clothes,” Sam said. “Let’s go over there now so my mom can get things ready.”

So the two of them left Demetrius to deal with the house and started heading down the mountain path into town. The shift from the quiet, dark intimacy of Sebastian’s bedroom to the bright, sunny day outside made Sebastian feel even stranger than he had before. “Well, shit,” Sam said. He veered over and let his shoulder clip against Sebastian’s. “Just our luck, right? And right when things were getting really good, too.”

Sebastian glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Sam looked...not cheerful, exactly, but energized and open. “So you liked it?” Sebastian asked.

“Of course,” Sam said. Then, after a moment: “Wait, did you not like it?”

Sebastian felt a jolt of alarm. “Yeah, of course I liked it,” he said. “I just...”

Sam’s open expression started to retreat inward a little. Ugh, Sebastian could fucking _kick_ himself for letting his insecurity ruin everything. “I just...felt weird, too, because it was the first time we’d done it,” Sebastian said. “It was like I couldn’t turn my brain off the whole time.”

“Oh,” Sam said. He looked around, making sure no one was watching, and then he veered over and put his arm around Sebastian. The casual, easy affection of it sent a warm shiver down Sebastian’s spine. “I guess that means I wasn’t very good at it.”

Sebastian jabbed him with his elbow. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. Then, a little bitterly: “When can I ever turn off my brain, right?”

Sam leaned in and kissed the side of his face. “It’s cool,” he said. “We’ll just keep practicing until I’m so good I can blow your mind.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but some of the lingering insecurity inside him finally started to fade away. It was still hard to believe, sometimes, that Sam was actually into him. Making friends in a place as small as Pelican Town was difficult enough; finding someone to date had always seemed impossible. And becoming friends with Sam two years ago had been so cool, and such a relief, that Sebastian had diligently tamped down all those other thoughts he kept having: thoughts about the way Sam’s body moved when he skateboarded, the way his arms looked when he played the guitar. Sebastian hated the hot summer weather, but a few months ago he had shame-facedly bought a pair of black swim trunks from JojaMart and gone to the beach with Sam and his brother Vincent, just to see the pale blond hair on Sam’s chest dappled with water, to see his toned midsection twist as he threw a frisbee for Vincent to catch.

It had never occurred to him--literally never occurred to him--that Sam had been thinking about him the same way the whole time. That Sam messed up his guitar chords sometimes because he was staring at Sebastian’s fingers as they moved over the keyboard. That Sam never got any better at pool, despite playing every Friday for two years, because he was always distracted by the way Sebastian leaned over the table with his cue, his black t-shirt riding up to show the ghost-pale skin of his lower back. And when Sam finally told Sebastian how he felt--two weeks ago, both of them sitting hip-to-hip on the dark lip of the dock as the moonlight jellies glowed beneath their dangling feet--Sebastian just straight-up didn’t believe him. Even though Sam liked a lot of the same nerdy things that Sebastian did, he wasn’t a _nerd_ , like Sebastian was. Sam was normal. He was _cool_ , with his wild hair and electric guitar and skateboarding tricks. Sebastian knew that they never would’ve become friends if both of them had lived in the city. In the city Sam would have his pick of people to hang out with, people who didn’t get overstimulated and irritated the way Sebastian sometimes did, withdrawing and hiding from contact for days. They were only friends because Pelican Town was so small. There was no way Sebastian was what Sam really wanted.

But then, when the lights of the jellies dimmed in the water and darkness stole over the shore, Sam had leaned in and kissed him. And it was hard to argue with a kiss, especially when it was followed up by another one, and another one, one of Sam’s hands cupping the side of Sebastian’s face, the other hand snug against Sebastian’s lower back. It was the first time either of them had kissed anybody, and they both kind of sucked at it, but it didn’t matter: just the intimacy of their mouths pressing together, the heat of their breath against each other’s faces, was so thrilling it made every nerve in Sebastian’s body tingle. And they got better at it pretty quickly, because for the next two weeks they practiced _a lot_ , abandoning their normal routine of reading comics and playing games in favor of just making out. Sebastian used to hate the sight of people being lovey-dovey, like when his mom and Demetrius would hug and kiss and slow dance in the saloon on Fridays, but it turned out that being lovey-dovey was intoxicating when you were on the inside of it. Running his hand through Sam’s hair, feeling Sam’s lips on his neck: it was like a whole new dimension of reality had unfolded in Sebastian’s consciousness, and the prospect of getting to explore it was enough to keep Sebastian awake in bed at night, heartbeat thudding, thinking of the next time he’d get to see Sam.

At least Demetrius almost blowing up the house meant he’d get to see Sam all night tonight. The two of them continued walking down the path into Pelican Town, Sam’s arm still around Sebastian’s side, until the hulking ruin of the town’s community center came into sight. Then the two of them diplomatically stepped away from each other. Maru and Penny would sometimes sit in the little overgrown garden next to the building to talk, and sometimes they would see Mayor Lewis out there ineffectually trying to cut back the weeds and vines that were slowly encroaching on the property. Word got around fast in a small town, and knowing Sam’s mom, the minute she found out they were dating would be the last time they were ever allowed to be in Sam’s room with the door closed.

When they got to Sam’s house, they found his mom Jodi already making up a bed for Sebastian on the living room sofa. “Demetrius called Pierre’s store during our aerobics class,” she explained. “When he told Robin what happened, she got so mad that her face turned the same color as her hair! I told her we’d be happy to take you in for the night, Sebastian.”

Sam eyed the blankets on the couch, faintly disgruntled. “He doesn’t have to sleep on the couch, does he?” he said. “He can just sleep in my room.”

“On the floor?” Jodi said. “Don’t be silly, Sam. The couch is much more comfortable.”

Sebastian knew Sam meant they could just share Sam’s bed, although it was as narrow as Sebastian’s and probably couldn’t fit two people comfortably. “Thank you, ma’am,” Sebastian said quickly. “I appreciate it.”

And so later that night, when Jodi knocked on Sam’s door and said “Bedtime, boys!”, Sebastian went out to lie down on the couch. Sam was annoyed to see him go--he was perpetually annoyed that his mom still treated them like they were high schoolers--but Sebastian didn’t feel like he could argue. Jodi turned off the lights in the living room, and then he heard her go into her own room and start getting ready for bed. After a few minutes, the entire house lapsed into darkness and quiet.

Sebastian closed his eyes, but before he could fall asleep, he heard a faint squeaking sound. He looked up: Sam had creaked open his bedroom door and was gesturing at him to come back in.

Sebastian got up, trying to be as silent as possible, and crept back into Sam’s room. “You know I can’t sleep here,” Sebastian whispered as Sam shut the door.

“I know,” Sam whispered back. “You can go back out there and sleep when we’re done.”

“Done with what?”

“Finishing what we started.”

Sam stepped in close and slid his hand along the small of Sebastian’s back. Another one of those warm thrills ran up Sebastian’s spine. “That’s a terrible idea,” Sebastian said. “Your mom will hear us.”

“We’ll be quiet.”

“We weren’t that quiet at my house.”

Sam shut him up with a kiss, and even though Sebastian knew they’d be flirting with disaster, all the mingled desire and anticipation from earlier in the day immediately flooded through him again. Even after two weeks, Sam’s touch still felt like an incredible discovery, prying open parts of Sebastian that had been locked up tight for years. He kissed Sam back, and slid his hands under Sam’s shirt to clasp the warm muscle of Sam’s waist, and together the two of them started to back up quietly toward the bed.

Then Sam broke the kiss abruptly. “Wait a sec,” he whispered, and leaned down to shovel some of his dirty clothes up off the floor. He went over and shoved them underneath the door jamb.

“Seriously?” Sebastian whispered.

“There’s no way that _both_ of our houses will catch fire on the same day,” Sam said, and grabbed Sebastian by the waist to drag him into bed.

It was another tight fit, and the rustling of the bedclothes seemed awfully loud in the quiet house, and when they started kissing again Sebastian was struck by just how _audible_ kissing was. Each press of their lips made a little sound, and soon their breaths were coming fast enough to hear. And when Sam reached down in between them and started working Sebastian’s pants off his hips, Sebastian found it really hard to concentrate on being quiet when there were so many different feelings and emotions sloshing around inside him. When Sam’s hand closed around his bare cock again, Sebastian had to bury his face in Sam’s shoulder and muffle his moan as best he could. And it was _still_ audible, an undeniable sound of pleasure in the otherwise-silent house.

“Fuck,” Sebastian whispered into Sam’s shoulder. “I can’t do this.”

“It wasn’t that loud.”

“You barely touched me,” Sebastian said. “What’s going to happen when I--“

Then another sound suddenly broke the silence: the metallic rattle of the doorknob being turned, and then the soft _thump_ of the door catching on the clothes jammed underneath it. “Sam?” came Vincent’s small voice.

 _“Shit_ ,” Sam hissed, and in one quick motion he rolled out of bed and threw the bedclothes over Sebastian’s head. Sebastian found himself lying there in darkness with a pounding heart and a rapidly wilting boner as Sam kicked the clothes free of the door. “Vincent, what are you doing up?” Sam asked. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“I heard weird noises,” Vincent said, his voice quavering a little. “It sounded like ghosts.”

Sebastian half-rolled his eyes under the bedclothes. “Ghosts?” Sam said, sounding both annoyed and amused. “Vince, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Yes there are,” Vincent said. “In this book Miss Penny read to me, there were--”

“That’s just a story, Vince,” Sam said. “I’m sure it was only the wind or something. You need to go back to bed.”

“Where’s Sebastian?” Vincent asked. “I thought he was sleeping on the couch.”

“He must be in the bathroom,” Sam said. “Now, come on, I’ll take you back to your room.”

Sebastian heard their footsteps move away from the door, and when he heard the gentle creak of Vincent’s door opening, he got out from under the bedclothes and went back out to the couch. Once again, the sudden switch from breathless and intimate to pure panic made his stomach feel woozy. After a minute, Sam emerged from Vincent’s room and shut the door behind him. “What are you doing?” he whispered to Sebastian.

“It’s too risky,” Sebastian whispered back.

Sam looked disgruntled again, but Sebastian could tell it was aimed at the world in general, not at him. Sam came over, looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone, and leaned down and kissed Sebastian. “I swear we’re going to figure this shit out,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I _will_ worry about it,” Sam said. “I’ll worry about it until the two of us can finally--“

There was another sudden _creak_ , this time coming from down the far hall. “Sam?” Jodi called out in a stage-whisper. “Is that you? I heard talking.”

Sam winced. “Yeah, Mom,” he said. “Just grabbing some water and going back to bed.”

“Okay,” she said, but there was no corresponding _creak_ of her door closing. Sam screwed up his face in annoyance and went back to his room, and when his door shut, Sebastian heard the answering _click_ of Jodi’s door shutting too.

Sebastian buried his face in his hands. For years he’d been dreaming of moving away from Stardew Valley and getting an apartment in Zuzu City, but he’d always been a little nervous about the idea too. Dealing with change always made him anxious. But imagine if he and Sam actually had an apartment, a place of their own, where Demetrius wasn’t setting the house on fire over their heads and Jodi wasn’t monitoring their bedtime like they were five years old. Imagine if they could be together without constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting for someone to disapprove. 

Fuck. Sebastian _really_ needed to get a job.

* * *

A week after that, the fall season started up in earnest. The leaves fell from the trees, mushrooms and blackberries started to grow, and crisp autumn winds blew fast and loud through the streets of Pelican Town. One Saturday, when Sebastian set out down the mountain path to meet Sam at his house, he instead rounded the bend near the old community center and found Sam standing there, waiting for him. “What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked, surprised. “I thought we were meeting at your house.”

“I had a better idea,” Sam said. He had an unusually excited look on his face. “You know I said I was going to figure out a way to get us some privacy, right? Well, I found it.”

Sebastian looked at him with faint suspicion. “What do you mean?”

“Follow me.”

Sam led Sebastian a little further down the path, until they were right next to the looming ruin of the community center. To Sebastian’s surprise, Sam guided him around to the back of the building, where a large tree had fallen to the ground. “See?” Sam said. “It fell during that lightning storm last week, and it busted open the wall right here.”

Sure enough, the very top of the tree was wedged up against the back wall of the building, and it had broken through the rotted wood and left a sizable gap. “Did you actually go in there?” Sebastian asked.

“Hell yeah,” Sam said. “I wanted to see how old and gross it was. But it’s actually not that bad. Come see!”

So Sebastian followed him through the gap, careful not to scrape himself on the splintered wood. When they got inside, Sebastian was struck by a vague memory of going to the community center when he was very small: he remembered the craft room with its easels and shelves full of art supplies. Those shelves were bare now, though, and the floor was dusty and warped by the creeping vines that had come up through the floorboards. The only thing that didn’t look moldering and abandoned was the couch up against the wall, which was covered in a strangely clean-looking sheet.

Then Sebastian realized: that was one of _Jodi’s_ sheets, the same type she’d used to make up his bed on the couch. “Did you put that there?” he asked Sam.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Sam gave him a meaningful look. Sebastian looked back and forth between him and the sheet-covered couch a few times before--

 _Oh_.

“Are you fucking serious?” Sebastian said. “You want to do it in here?”

Sam grinned. “It’s private, isn’t it?”

“It’s a _dump_ ,” Sebastian said. “It’s probably got rats.”

“I haven’t seen any while I’ve been in here,” Sam said. “And honestly? I’d rather the rats overhear us than my mom and Vincent.”

He reached out and grabbed Sebastian’s hand and dragged him over to the couch. It creaked a little under their weight, but otherwise it felt pretty sturdy. “Listen to the wind,” Sam said, and the two of them paused to listen as the brisk autumn winds swept audibly across the building’s walls outside. “No one’s gonna hear us with the wind blowing like that.”

Sebastian shook his head. “This is ridiculous,” he said.

“Give me ten minutes, and you’re not going to be saying that anymore,” Sam said. His grin was wide and self-satisfied. “I guarantee it.”

And the sight of Sam looking so happy and at ease was enough to send that warm little frisson up Sebastian’s spine again. It really _was_ ridiculous that the only place they could be alone was in this vine-covered old wreck. But Sam looked so pleased, and his thigh was pressed so warmly against Sebastian’s, that Sebastian went against his better judgment. “Okay," he said.

Sam made a gleeful noise and practically tackled Sebastian back on the couch. The old springs creaked but held. “But I swear,” Sebastian said, “if Mayor Lewis shows up to clean weeds off the building and finds us screwing, we’re running away to Zuzu City and never coming back.”

“Deal,” Sam said, and pinned him down with a christening kiss.


End file.
